McKenzie Tiger volleyball gets set for second season

 

TORI J. NORRIS/ THE GREENVILLE STANDARD

The McKenzie Tigers volleyball team will enter their second season this fall and are hoping to build on what they started last year.

McKenzie hosted Red Level in a scrimmage last Tuesday between both the junior varsity and varsity teams.

“Currently, I have 20 players and we are still working on determining who will make each roster,” said Coach Donna Byrd. “We have a month left until the first game and I want to take time to determine the right players for each team.”

The purpose of the scrimmage was to be able to see another team on the other side of the net and get some true game experience.

“We have not had a lot of time for the new players to learn the basic skills,” said Coach Brown. “I wanted to see what we need to work on from here on out.”

Coach Brown felt that overall the teams played well.

“The girls worked together, which is extremely important,” said Coach Brown. “They hustled and had good attitudes on the court. Honestly, serving was much improved skill wise.”

The Tigers are going to focus on the game itself.

“We have to be more aggressive and just learn the basic skills of volleyball,” said Coach Brown. “We have to build on last year’s foundation and take what we started with and work toward winning some games.”

During the Tigers first season, leadership was established by the six seniors on the team.

“Losing six seniors and only moving up three seniors is hard,” said Coach Brown. “I am definitely looking for good leadership from my older players.”

The Tigers first game will be Aug. 30 in McKenzie. They will face JU Blacksher at 4:30.